We are approaching another week of recovery from the correction almost a month ago.
This week, Fed Chairman Powell will speak at an economic summit in Jackson Hole.
I seriously doubt he will tip the hand of the Fed on any rate change coming up next month.
Most analysts believe there will be a quarter-point change.
Most of this comes from rising unemployment numbers and slightly lower inflation numbers.
The debate continues to focus on whether we will make a soft landing or head into a recession.
Some were concerned about the consumer as the amount of individual debt has increases significantly.
The theory is that the consumer-driven economy will get a cold if consumers cut back.
The earnings reports from Walmart and Amazon lent some concern that consumers were moving toward discounting.
There will be other reports this week from the likes of Lowes and TJX, which should give further indications as to how consumers are doing.
It goes without saying that most of the recovery is led by the tech giants of the Magnificent 7, and Nvidia in particular.
The election will catch much attention this week with the DNC convening in Chicago.
There are concerns that the war in the Middle East will escalate as Israel and Iran go back and forth with attacks.
Ukraine took the offensive and moved attacks into Russia.
We are in the hurricane season and it its impacts on various regions of the U.S.
The list continues on events that can have a negative impact on this country and the world.
It does though seem to me that while earnings reports may not be hitting it out of the park, they are far from pathetic.
The real rub is that when you are at or near record-high levels, investors demand greater than possible reports.
Should you just do as expected, you might be rewarded with a selloff in the stock.
Last week, we had the CEO of Chipotle leave to go and become the CEO for Starbucks.
Nothing is stagnant in this market.
The amount of change is great and it comes at you at a faster clip every year.
You have to give credit to those who chose to buy back into this market after the corrections we have undergone multiple times.
Every time they bought back in the market stair stepped up to higher levels.
I read an interesting article about how value investing has gone the way of the horse-drawn carriage.
To some degree I agree though it goes completely against what I have practiced for decades.
The only real constant is change and we have to adapt.
Our society today is much more minute by minute.
You don’t buy and hold stocks.
Once great companies like GE and IBM have been broken down and had to reformulate.
Holding on resulted in losses.
GE has risen from the grave, but it was no fun and I doubt long-term holders are anywhere near back in the black.
As such, it important to keep yourself informed as much as possible.
Watching trends and evaluating what is happening costs you little and can be rewarding.
Great gains have come to those who got in early.
You can only do that keeping your eyes and ears open.
It should not be feared but welcomed as another opportunity.
The only opportunity that I am going to partake in this week is the AC in my house as August is here and it is triple digits.
We can long for fall when that comes to Texas at Halloween.
